Reanalyzing Western African Art in the Colonial Era through Brass Statues and Their Cultures

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K12977
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 01050:Aesthetics and art studies-related
• Research Institution: Seinan Gakuin University (2020-2021); The University of Tokyo (2019)
• Principal Investigator: YANAGISAWA FUMIAKI 西南学院大学, 国際文化学部, 講師 (10725732)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: アフリカ / ベナン / アフリカ美術 / 植民地文化 / ツーリストアート / フランス植民地主義

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It became clear that the brass statues which had been produced around Abomey carry on the tradition of Dahomey court culture, whereas they had also experienced major changes in terms of technique and style, as well as in terms of acceptance inside and outside Dahomey, by the lost-wax casting introduced in the country during the colonization. Although it is difficult to determine the route of introduction of the lost-wax casting, it is certain that these statues functioned as souvenirs to please travelers, colonials and specialists such as missionary or ethnographer, that colonials and “animateurs” concerned considerably the control of manufacture and of distribution, and that these were produced for Dahomean public as a new art of sculpture to decorate Asen. So these statues can be positioned as an important sculpture culture in West Africa that tells the French colonial domination and the constant creation in it.

Free Research Field

美術史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、１）ダオメにおける失蝋法による真鍮製彫像の歴史を、20世紀初頭の植民地的状況における文化の生成・流通・変容という観点から明らかにし、２）西アフリカを含むアフリカ諸地域の造形物の製作・販売・流通に関する諸問題を対話的・相補的な仕方で分析した。アフリカ由来の「アート」のプロモーションをめぐり、研究側の分析と企業側の経験や知見とを共有することで、アフリカと「アート」に関する新たな主題の開拓、さらに企業と研究との新たな協力可能性を提示することができた。